1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to container carrying means, and more particularly to a device for carrying beverage cans.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
In the past there has been a wide assortment of beverage can carriers. Most of these have amounted to mere packaging devices which had bowling grip carrier means for transporting the containers. An example of this kind of multipackaging device would be U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,712 which generally resembles the common plastic packaging of canned beverages found on many of today's supermarket shelves. The common disadvantage of this invention is that the containers once removed cannot easily be put back into the packaging. Thus, the consumer is limited to carrying one type of brand with this packaging.
There have been, of course, other structures which have had the general purpose of providing a way of carrying a package of beverage containers. These are best exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,314 which depicts a strap that goes around a group of cans and has a handle on said strap, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,924 which allows two six packs to be carried by one strap which encircles both of them and has a handle. However, It should be noted that U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,924 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,314 have the inherent flaw that as cans are removed from them, they are less likely to be able to hold or grip the remaining cans.
The present carrier seeks to overcome the inferior means for holding onto the above described packaging devices, and the inherent problem of beverage carriers, i.e., that they loose their grip as beverage containers are removed from the carrier. The proposed solution to these problems is arrived at by noting that if each beverage can is gripped separately, it will not matter whether several have been removed because they are all gripped independently of each other. Additionally, containers once removed from the carrier may be returned to it with ease or others may be substituted. A handle may be provided which allows a person to use their whole hand to grip the carrier should they so desire.